August 28, 2006
BILL WHO?:
Shopping for Support Down the Wrong Aisle (Sebastian Mallaby, August 28, 2006, Washington Post)
Once upon a time, smart Democrats defended globalization, open trade and the companies that thrive within this system. They were wary of tethering themselves to an anti-trade labor movement that represents a dwindling fraction of the electorate. They understood the danger in bashing corporations: Voters don't hate corporations, because many of them work for one.Then dot-bombs and Enron punctured corporate America's prestige, and Democrats bolted. Rather than hammer legitimately on real instances of corporate malfeasance -- accounting scandals, out-of-control executive compensation and the like -- Democrats swallowed the whole anti-corporate playbook.
To see the difference between then and now, just look at the Clintons. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Hillary Clinton sat on Wal-Mart's board; and when Sam Walton died in 1992, Bill Clinton lauded him as "a wonderful family man and one of the greatest citizens in the history of the state of Arkansas.'' Campaigning in the New Hampshire primary that year, Bill Clinton came proudly to the rescue of a local company called American Brush Co. by helping it become a Wal-Mart supplier.
Times change.
To be a Democrat is to prefer the 1970s to the 1990s.
MORE:
Wal-Mart's A Diversion: On any list of the nations major concerns, the giant retailer would not rank in the first 50. So why are Dems spending so much time talking about it? (Robert J. Samuelson, 9/04/06, Newsweek)
What else do they have?
The Democrats haven't been happy since Nixon died. They've been trying steadily to turn Bush INTO Nixon. No nuance required, just hate.
Posted by: ed in texas at August 28, 2006 12:08 PMThey'd still be lauding corporations if Al Gore had been elected president, because to vilify them they way they are right now and actually have the reins of power would mean to actually have to put up deeds to match their rhetoric. And all but the wackiest on te left of the Democratic Party know that to run around indiscriminanently trying to bring down every big corporation that displeases someone on the left would mean bringing the U.S. economy down on their heads (now if they can use the government to attack one corporation at the behest of another corporation paying them big $$$ in political donations, i.e., the antitrust suit against Microsoft, that's a different story).
Posted by: John at August 28, 2006 12:12 PMWal-Mart is to be the next Hoobert Heever.
It won't work - for one thing, Wal-Mart does way too much business in CA. For another, the Dems will soon realize that the Walton family can spend a lot more on GOP candidates than George Soros and Peter Lewis can spend on Democratic ones. And, in most states, Wal-Mart is America (you know, the melting pot).
A few GOP rallies in SuperCenter parking lots around the country in 2006 and 2008, and the Dems will drop their baloney.
BTW, I saw George Lakoff on C-SPAN last night. He reminded me of the chubby kid in junior high who couldn't get anyone to listen to his breathless interpretations of Star Trek. He should go to Wal-Mart more.
Posted by: jim hamlen at August 28, 2006 4:14 PMWho says the Dems are pacifist
Posted by: h-man at August 28, 2006 4:43 PM
oj,
There are no longer any "trade-unions", there are only public employee unions.
Here in CA we have a union for PhD's working for the State, let alone the corrupt and connected prison workers, etc.
Mike